[mythtv-users] [Slightly OT] solar power for all our gadgets

[Jeff Walther]

> Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:37:43 -0700
> From: Jon Bishop <jon.the.wise.gdrive at gmail.com>

> While I am all for building a few more nuclear plants (or as good ol
> 'W' likes to sake Nukuler) I still believe that every citizen has a
> responsibility to produce a portion of the energy that they use.

While that's a great sounding idea, it makes no sense in an industrial
society.  The reason we can support the populations that we do and raise
them out of poverty is mass production, industrialization and
*specialization*.  All of which lead to massive economies of scale. 
Rolling back those economies translates to making everything massively
more expensive.

Making every individual generate some energy creates huge inefficiencies
which, when simplified, translates to making everyone needlessly poorer.

Plus, I don't know about you, but I'm tapped out, in terms of time and
money.  I do not want to take up home generation as my new hobby--I'd have
to give up MythTV.   I resent the folks who think, "Oh, my idea will cost
everyone several hours a week, but that's okay, they can afford it to
satisfy my pet view of paradise."

If we all had to build all the stuff we use, we'd all be subsistence
farmers.  There certainly wouldn't be any telecommunications industry
beyond telegraphs on copper lines--maybe, assuming we could get ourselves
up to smelting and drawing copper.

It sounds like you read one of those beautiful tracts in environmental
lobby magazines which completely ignore the realities of modern society
and its infrastructure.

Jeff Walther